Hungry Eyes
by AkiraDawn
Summary: Continuation to story 'She's Like the Wind'. Vacation. Something Tifa and Cloud haven't had in ages. They could use this time away from the hustle of life in Midgar. And Marlene and Denzel have never been to the beach. Rated M for a reason!
1. July in Midgar

Hungry Eyes

_I Feel the Magic Between You and I_

Hey everyone! First of all thanks everyone for reading and reviewing, it means so much! This is the continuation to 'She's Like the Wind'. I really wanted to write this because I didn't feel done with the previous story. If you haven't read 'She's Like the Wind' please check it out!

I don't own Final Fantasy, it belongs to Square Enix.

July was the hottest of months and it could be felt throughout Midgar. Summer time deliveries had increased and all that added clutter just made this apartment hotter. It seemed the window unit air conditioner couldn't keep up any more and it had to be replaced the week before. The new unit was so much quieter and it cooled much more efficiently. It was 12:30 in the afternoon and Marlene and Denzel were due in from their week long summer day camp any minute. Marlene's friend Stella had told Marlene about this day camp and naturally she just _had_ to attend if Stella was. And if Marlene was going Denzel might as well go too. Tifa sat at the kitchen counter programming the cell phones that had arrived earlier that morning for Marlene and Denzel. Tifa was tired this afternoon. She had worked the bar until 2:00 AM. The late hours were awful but the money made up for it. She always tried so hard not to wake anyone when she came in. She typically never woke the kids but she almost always woke Cloud when she would get in the shower. Tifa looked forward to the next three days off she had scheduled. She had just gotten Denzel's phone programmed and ready for him when she heard the door open and looked up to see Denzel and Marlene hurrying through the door.

"Tifa! Hi Tifa! Look what I made for my turtle today at camp!" Denzel said shoving some kind of crude clay house-looking thing in Tifa's face. "Do you think he'll like it?" Denzel asked.

"Look at that! You did a great job. I'm sure he'll like it. Hey, did you have a good day today? Tifa asked Denzel. "Hi Eliza, hi Stella! Come in, come in." she added noticing Marlene, her friend Stella and Stella's mother had come in behind Denzel.

"Uh huh…I hope he goes inside of it." Denzel said to Tifa. Tifa put her hand in Denzel's hair.

"You need a haircut; look at your bangs falling in your eyes. Me or Cloud will take you tomorrow. Denzel, your phone came today. So did Marlene's. Would you like to see it?" Tifa asked. phone, okay?"

"Would I ever!" Denzel said putting his clay sculpture on the kitchen counter. "May I take it and learn how to use it?" Denzel asked.

"Sure you can, here put it on the charger while you look at it. Tifa said handing the charger over to Denzel.

"Thanks for my new phone." Denzel said hugging Tifa. She laughed.

"You're welcome. If you don't like it…it's Cloud's fault because he picked them out." Denzel smiled and took off to his room, grabbing the clay shelter he had made for his turtle.

"Marlene, your phone is charging right here." Tifa said.

"Okay, I want to look at it later. Guess what me and Stella did today? We got to pet a sheep!" Marlene said excitedly.

"You girls got to pet a sheep? That's exciting, tell me about it." Tifa said. Both girls talked excitedly about their day camp experience with a sheep. Once they had finished telling Tifa all about their grand day Marlene took Stella and ran off to her room.

"Sit down. Would you like some salad? It's not much but I can at least offer you that." Tifa asked standing up to move around to the other side of the counter. "Sorry this place is such a mess. I haven't counted my tips from last night which is why there is money all over this counter and as you can see all those packages in the middle of the floor won't be picked up until tomorrow. And I haven't seen the top of that table in front of the couch for two days. It's buried so much paperwork." Tifa said. Eliza Mackey, Stella's mother, laughed.

"Don't worry. I only wished my house looked this clean and yes I would love some salad." She answered Tifa. This woman was ten years older than Tifa and had only known her since Stella and Marlene had become friends but she liked Tifa and they had become somewhat close in the past year.

"I'll tell you, this looks weird but it's good." Tifa said giving the salad a good stir to mix up the dressing and the little bits of oranges that were in it.

"They had a lot fun today. I know I've said it before but Denzel and Marlene are just such good kids. The day camp is such a good thing for kids over the summer." Eliza said.

"It is, and Marlene and Denzel have looked forward to it every day. Thank you so much for bringing them back. Obviously, when Cloud leaves I'm stranded for transportation. It normally works out fine but obviously not this week." Tifa said pushing a glass of tea and a bowl of salad in front of Eliza. Tifa decided to join her since she hadn't yet eaten anything this afternoon.

"This is good, did you make this?" Eliza asked.

"No, Cloud started throwing things in a bowl last night and then he called it a salad." Tifa said. Eliza smiled and pushed the greens around. There was silence for a moment as Eliza's mind seemed to work in overdrive. She sighed and looked up at Tifa.

"Can I…ask you something? And….god I'm embarrassed to ask you this…it's just that…I don't really have anyone to run this by…" Eliza took a deep breath. Tifa wondered what in the world this woman could possibly have to ask her. Tifa waited; watching her carefully. "Um…" Eliza Mackey looked around as if she were being listened to. She leaned in toward Tifa. "How many times a week do you have sex?" she asked Tifa softly. The question caught Tifa completely off guard. Tifa was shy and reserved by nature; how could she possibly answer that question! "Let me explain myself a little but before you answer that." The woman said. Oh thank god there was an explanation! "I think …my husband may be cheating on me. There is no sex in my marriage. There hasn't been for four months. So with that said…how many times?" Eliza said leaning in further toward Tifa eagerly anticipating an answer. Tifa thought for a moment, she felt so awkward answering this.

"Uh…well…uh…I don't know….uh…three times?" Tifa bit her lower lip. She lied. But there was no way she could tell Eliza the truth. It was obvious Eliza had an issue in her marriage and Tifa wasn't going to make it worse than it already seemed by telling her the real number. Eliza sighed.

"I was afraid of that. My husband…" she stopped talking and thought for a bit. "You know what; I don't know why I'm talking to you about this. It's just been on my mind I guess. I'm worried that's all." Eliza said a bit embarrassed by herself.

"It's okay; if you want to talk I'll listen. I can't say as I will have the best advice in the world but I can always lend an ear." Tifa said taking a drink of iced tea.

"That's kind of you. Maybe I'm paranoid but it's been four months and that's highly unusual. So, I did something to see if he's just been overwhelmed at work or if it's something more. I booked a condo for five days at the beach. I thought it would be a good opportunity to find out what's really going on with him. Anyway, another couple was supposed to go with us but they backed out because they had a death in their extended family. If you and your kids and your boyfriend would like to go you're welcome to. And truthfully, I kind of need someone to lean on right now and I don't know why I picked you. We just really need to fill this other spot or we lose quite a bit of money. If you want to see pictures of the condo or anything I have a few. It's something to think about." Eliza Mackey said.

"Wow, you have the picture perfect image of what a family should look like…you really think he's cheating on you?" Tifa asked thinking about what this woman had told her.

"I'm going to find out for sure on this trip." Eliza said.

"I could use a vacation. I've been working too much lately and Cloud needs some time away from the business. He rarely takes time off. Let me talk to him about it and I'll get back to you tomorrow." Tifa said.

"That's fine. I really hope you all go with us. Stella would be so excited to have Marlene along. It's an oceanfront condo; five bedrooms and it has a pool. It's beautiful. It will be such a wonderful trip even if I don't get the answers I want." Eliza explained. Tifa smiled.

"I do hope you get the answers you want."

"What do you think about the idea?" Eliza asked.

"Well, I think your strategy to find out what's up with your husband is a good one. Please know…I'm here for you. As far as a vacation; you don't have to convince me any further. I really want to go. Truthfully, it won't be a hard sell with Cloud. He fired someone yesterday and has really been slammed with deliveries lately. He's had a rough few weeks at work that's for sure." Tifa explained.

"Great, so I'll hear from you tomorrow? That will be perfect because I have to call the rental agency and tell them whether or not the spot is filled by Thursday." Eliza said.

"So, do you want to tell me more about what's going on with you and your marriage?" Tifa asked of Eliza knowing that this woman needed to talk and Tifa could spare some time to listen.


	2. Clipping Coupons

They had no idea why they did this. Cloud would be in the shower, Tifa would be in their bed and they would yell back and forth about whatever it was that they needed to talk about. It seemed as this was the only time they had to discuss anything of importance. The typical routine was that Cloud got home between four and five o'clock. If the kids had any functions or appointments or were at a friend's house either Cloud or Tifa would pick them up, drop them off, wait on them, or whatever it was they needed. The four of them would have dinner and the kitchen would be cleaned up by 7:00. After that, it was time for Marlene and Denzel to complete their chores around the apartment. Their chores were usually done by 8:00 and it was time to get them settled in for the night even though they didn't have a curfew since school was out. What was left was an hour and a half before Tifa would go downstairs and work the bar for three or four hours. Sure, she could start working during the day and alleviate the evening schedule but it worked out better that she worked in the evening for the sake of the delivery service. Tonight was different; Tifa wasn't working so it was hard telling why they were yelling back and forth like this. Once you got into a routine, it was hard to break the norm.

"So, I think I'm going to have to hire another driver. There are three plus me and the business is getting too big for the four of us to handle all the deliveries. Not to mention we're delivering to three new sectors now. I think I'll post it next week that the business is hiring. Would you care to review applications if I start accepting them next week?" Cloud said loudly to Tifa from the shower.

"I don't care to review them. You could use another driver; it would take some stress off you. Why don't you hire two more drivers? The money is there to pay them." Tifa answered him just as loudly.

"It wouldn't hurt. Maybe you're right; it might be the best option. Can you go to the post office tomorrow morning and get like…a hundred mailing labels? We're almost out of them." Cloud asked.

"Yeah, I'll take care of it." Tifa answered. Tifa could hear the water shut off in the shower which would make this conversation go much more smoothly.

"By the way, we got a check from Barret today. I can't believe he sends us money but he can't take time to come see Marlene. That's bullshit." Tifa said a little irritated with Barret.

"He tries, my god that man tries but he's just…I don't know…he'll never get his priorities right." Cloud said.

"Yeah…anyway…you've heard me talk about the Mackey's right? You know, Marlene's friend Stella Mackey?"

"Yeah, yeah …um…Eliza and…Garrison, right?" Cloud asked.

"Yes, that's who they are. When Eliza brought the kids by from day camp she asked my how many times a week you and I had sex." Tifa said.

"Wait…the Volvo driving soccer mom asked you that?" Cloud said. Tifa laughed. She thought that was hilarious.

"She doesn't drive a Volvo! It's a van! And Stella doesn't play soccer!" Tifa said still laughing.

"Well it looks like that could be true…so did you tell her." Cloud asked.

"Not exactly….I told her twice a week." Tifa said.

"You lied to her! You lied to that sweet stay at home mom that gets a thrill from clipping coupons! Oh, Tifa!" Cloud had to laugh at her. Tifa laughed harder.

"Cloud!" she was trying to tell Cloud about this beach offer but she had to stop and bury her face in the pillow beside her she was laughing so hard.

"I'm serious Tifa, she probably sits at home scanning the paper…she comes across a coupon for soap and she's like ooooooh yes, baby because it's not the normal soap…it's that fancy aromatherapy kind we have in the kitchen. Then she gets that little rush from snipping it out on the dotted lines and putting it in her coupon organizer. Wait…why is it you lied to her?" Cloud asked. Tifa had to regain her composure and it wasn't easy after the clearly condescending coupon statement.

"I had to lie to her because she thinks her husband might be having an affair! I didn't want to make her feel even worse by telling her we were having amazing sex four nights a week! But anyway, that's not my point. My point is…" Cloud interrupted her. He turned out the bathroom light and pitched the towel that was wrapped around him to the floor.

"Hold on…the Mackey's…who have this picture perfect family image…with their coupon clipping and their soccer van and their…color coordinated hand towels…are having marital trouble?" Cloud asked getting under the covers beside Tifa. She put her arms around him.

"Yes, that's what I'm saying. But there's more, see…" Cloud cut Tifa off again.

"So…what we have here…where no one has the same last name and the kids aren't even related and where we _don't_ have color coordinated hand towels is more normal than what the Mackey's have?" Cloud asked.

"Yes, yes that is true, baby…that is true. Okay, what I'm trying to get to is…" Cloud interrupted her again.

"Why are you wearing clothes? I am naked and clean under these blankets and you're still wearing my t-shirt." Cloud said moving his hand to Tifa's stomach.

"I know, but I was cold laying on top the covers and…okay anyway, so Eliza asked me today…" he interrupted Tifa again. She sighed.

"Did you seriously tell her it was amazing sex because it _is_; you wouldn't have been lying about that." Cloud said.

"No, no I didn't use those words; I think I was quite vague actually…now what I'm trying to tell you is…" her interrupted her again.

"I bet they are so boring in bed. Are you sure she's not just jealous? No! I bet she wants advice from you! You should call her right now and tell that she and her husband should do it in the floor…I bet that would freaky for them." Tifa didn't say a word she waited for whatever crazy and funny thing Cloud was going to say next. "You're not saying anything, is that too wild for them? Are they that dull? Okay, tell her they should try it with the lights on." Tifa sighed again.

"Cloud, they want us to go to the beach with them…well Eliza asked. They're going for five days in about three weeks, what do you think? Tifa said calmly before Cloud could interrupt her with something else.

"What you mean like a vacation, a vacation with the dull sex, matching towels, coupon, soccer van family?" Cloud asked. Tifa laughed again, god he was on a roll tonight and he wasn't even intending to be so funny.

"Yes, that's what it would be, Cloud. They will be criticizing the color choice of hand towels in the condo and not having any sex since their marriage in trouble and you I…well we'll be cleaning up the mess from all the kinky sex with the hand towels." Tifa said sarcastically. "When was the last time you or I had a vacation?" Tifa's touch was soft as her hand slid over Cloud's body.

"It's been…it's been too long to remember. Tell me more about this." Cloud said pulling his shirt over Tifa's head.

"It's a five bedroom oceanfront condo. They need an answer by tomorrow." Tifa said. Cloud pulled her over on top of him.

"Tell coupon mom we'll go. I don't know that family all that well but we desperately need to get away for a few days. Have you told Denzel or Marlene about it?" Cloud asked.

"No, I wanted to talk to you first." Tifa said resting her forehead against Cloud's. The look on Cloud's face became suddenly serious.

"You know that I would never, ever have an affair, right? You know I would never do that to you or the kids…right?" Cloud asked Tifa.

"Of course I know that." Tifa kissed him.

"You're hotter than every other woman anyway; I would have no reason to have an affair." Cloud said she he felt Tifa's body slink down his.

"It's sad…you think you know what a family is and what it should look like…and then she drops a bomb like that. You never know what's truly going on." Tifa said feeling rather sad for the Mackey situation.

"You mean like last month when you and I went to the parent teacher conference and Denzel's history teacher looked at that informational paper and then looked at us and said 'guardians don't have the same rights as parents in my classroom'… I can't believe that bitch…" Cloud was so pissed about that. Tifa laughed again.

"And you handled it so well when you said 'Denzel doesn't like this class and we're in a hurry' immediately after she said that." Tifa said.

"Hey, that bitch had it coming. She didn't even say hi first and she gave Denzel a C on that report I helped him with!" Cloud defended himself.

"She's just an odd teacher who doesn't understand…well…life. Besides, Cloud…you two had that report so fucked up no wonder he got a C! I can't believe I let him turn that in for a grade."

"I can't believe you are knocking my 4th grade report writing abilities. We had a very strong opening paragraph! At least Marlene didn't ask me to come to school for career day." Cloud said reminding Tifa of how Marlene thought it would be a _great _idea for Tifa to come to her 5th grade classroom and talk about bartending to a group of 10-year-olds."

"I could have discussed the business entrepreneur part of my job!" Tifa said.

"You could have, but Marlene wanted you to…and I quote 'make that drink that changes colors'." Cloud said.

"And that's why she's not allowed to watch me make any drinks anymore." Tifa said.

"I love you, Tifa. Even though Marlene could have potentially put you in jail, I love you. We need to make a list. If we're going to the beach in three weeks we should probably get some things together." Cloud said.

"You're right. Maybe the four of us can do that tomorrow. I'll tell Marlene and Denzel tomorrow morning about the trip before they leave for day camp." Tifa said. Her body continued creeping lower into the covers.

"They are going to be so excited about this. Neither of them has been to the beach. Since that's Marlene's friend she will be very excited." Cloud said.

"Yes, they will. I'll start making arrangements tomorrow with the schedule downstairs. There are a couple of cooks and bartenders that I can give some extra hours to." Tifa said.

"I need to reroute the deliveries and reschedule the drop off times. That shouldn't be a problem though. Now that I think about it, I should also….ooooh my god…" Cloud gasped and clenched the sheets below him in his fists. It was going to be hard for Tifa to talk with her mouth full. Cloud wouldn't interrupt her anymore.


	3. The Word 'Our'

Marlene and Denzel had been so excited for this day. Ever since Tifa had told them they were going to the beach with the Mackey's it was all the kids talked about. At 6:30 that morning the Mackey's had pulled up in front of Cloud and Tifa's apartment to load their van with their luggage. Cloud couldn't believe he let Tifa talk him in to letting Denzel take his turtle with them. Tifa's point of view was that Denzel would be heartbroken if they came back to Midgar in five days and that turtle was dead. So, there was Denzel cramming a terrarium into the back of the van that morning. The kids had slept most of the car ride there. Cloud noticed that Garrison Mackey wasn't wearing a wedding band but his wife was. He didn't ask any questions. Traffic had been light and the eight hour drive had been a surprisingly pleasant one. It was now 3:30 and they had arrived on the condo premises. It officially _looked_ like a vacation.

"This place doesn't have an elevator so we're going to be packing things up three flights of stairs." Tifa noticed.

"Oh, that's right! I forgot to mention that." Eliza said. Cloud and Tifa were used to packing things up flights of stairs so this was no big deal at all.

"Are we going to get to go to the beach once we get unpacked?" Denzel asked Cloud turning around in the seat.

"Of course we can. It's early in the day. We have lots of time." Cloud reassured him. Truth be told, everyone in this van was anxious to get to the beach.

"Let's get unloaded and get upstairs." Tifa said as Marlene handed her pillow over to Tifa along with a bag she had brought into the van with her. She, Denzel and Stella Mackey climbed out of the van. Denzel and Marlene's job would be to carry the twenty gallon cooler up three flights of stairs. It wasn't cruel…it was Marlene and Denzel's idea to stuff this thing full of every juice box flavor imaginable granted, Cloud and Tifa had encouraged this by taking the kids to pick out whatever they wanted at the store. At the last minute Tifa shoved a bunch of grapes in this cooler…at least those were one hundred percent juice.

"Can you two handle that?" Cloud asked of Marlene and Denzel; watching them awkwardly pick this cooler up.

"We can do it, besides we will put it down if it gets too heavy." Denzel said.

"I'll go with them and open up the door. The unit number is 3B." Eliza said taking her daughter with her; shoving her hands full of maps, a GPS unit, cell phone chargers and whatever else was laying in the front console of the van.

"Well, look at that…we sent our kids up the stairs with a thirty pound cooler and I'm holding a ten pound turtle house." Cloud said. Our kids? He had never said that before….Cloud had never once referred to Marlene and Denzel as _our kids_. Tifa hadn't seemed to catch that.

"Yeah, and I'm holding my purse, a snack bag, Marlene's pillow and some other bag. " Tifa noticed that she wasn't holding much either. "I could grab a suitcase too." Tifa reached down for one of the rolling suitcases they had packed.

"That guy has been on his cell phone since the minute his wife hit the steps. Hand me that duffle bag and put it over me." Cloud said.

"He has…one thing's for sure…there's something up with that guy. He's too quiet. Hey, I think we packed too much. Look, half of the shit in this van is ours." Tifa noticed.

"Tifa, we could have packed a smoothie maker and not been questioned about it …but we have to be now known as the crazy people who brought their turtle to the beach." Cloud said. Tifa laughed.

"Oh my god Cloud I can't believe you wrote 'Strife' on that package of bottled water The Mackey's will think we are horrible and possessive!" Tifa said mortified yet amused that he would do that.

"Hey, they were trying to take that at the office…I took it from the stock room and I had to make sure everyone else knew it was ours so I could get it home!" Cloud defended himself. There was that word again_. Ours_.

"Well, technically, baby...it's yours." Tifa said dragging the pack of bottled water out to the pavement.

"Have you noticed how much nicer our luggage is than theirs? I bet they got it at a wholesale store." Cloud said softly.

"CLOUD! Ssshhhhh!" Tifa said as quietly as she could without laughing. She hit him in the arm.

"Tifa! You vibrated the turtle in its….habitat thing. I swear to god if we hauled this thing for eight hours and you just killed it…." Cloud said trying to keep a straight face about this matter. Tifa laughed.

"Shut up and get that damn turtle upstairs before Garrison turns around and hears you making fun of his luggage and sees your personalized water!" Tifa said quietly. Cloud laughed at her and headed toward the stairs. She piled herself up as much as she could: Marlene's pillow in one hand, her purse and Marlene's bag on one shoulder, and a large rolling suitcase in one hand. She seemed to be crushing their snack bag. She looked around to see if there was anything else she could take and just shook her head at all the crap they had stuffed into this van. Tifa gave one last look to Garrison Mackey still on his phone before she headed for the steps. She feared who he was talking to and why he had waited until his wife left to talk on his phone.

The sea air, with its sand and the grit of salt felt fabulous as it blew through Tifa's long hair. The sun was hotter and brighter here; it was perfect. Thank goodness someone had the idea of propping open the door with that huge cooler. Tifa approached the top of the stairs and looked behind her over the deck railing. You could see inland for miles being three stories in the air like this. Tifa thought it was a beautiful sight; the scattered palms, the sandy landscaping and low growing shrubs, and the countless bike riders and dog walkers. It was as if no one around here had a care in the world. Tifa carefully dodged the cooler only to practically fall into Cloud.

"Tifa…put all that down where you are and come look at this." Cloud said grabbing Tifa's arm. She almost dropped everything in a pile the way he tugged on her.

"Cloud I am tripping over…." Tifa stopped talking and gasped. "Oh my god…oooooh look at the ocean!" The back of the condo was nearly solid glass and the only obstruction between the windows and the ocean was the back deck. It was a breathtaking sight. "Oh, I can't believe it! Look at this place!" Tifa said being weighed down by stuff on her arm and Cloud pulling her sideways.

"I let the kids go out on the deck; they were so excited when they walked through the door. I just had to let them outside. I hope you don't mind." Eliza said. Sure enough there was Denzel, Marlene and Stella pointing to everything they could see outside.

"It's fine. I want to go hear what they have to say about it." Tifa said dropping everything she had in a pile and making her way across the spacious living area to the sliding glass door that lead to the deck.

"I will go get more stuff." Cloud said stepping over the terrarium in the middle of the floor. Tifa gave him a nod and pulled the door closed behind her. She put an arm around Marlene and Denzel.

"What do you think? Are you excited?" Tifa asked them. The looks on their faces were priceless. All three of these kids were talking a mile a minute about pretty much everything that was happening on the beach.

"Tifa! Pick me up!" Marlene asked of her. The three kids could barely see over the railing.

"Pick you up?" Tifa questioned her.

"Yeah, then pick Stella up and then me!" Denzel said excitedly.

"Oh, you guys are going to break my back in two! Can Cloud pick you up later today?" Tifa asked as Marlene held on to Tifa's arms.

"Okay." Marlene said. Tifa looked out to the left and to the right. There was a fishing pier in the distance to the left and nothing but beach to the right. The kite fliers were out today and the beach was surprisingly not packed with people. The kids hadn't even bothered to comment on the pool yet. They hadn't been here twenty minutes and it was already worth it. Tifa didn't have the heart to make Marlene and Denzel come inside and start unpacking; they could do that when all the luggage was finally out of the van. She thought it best that she return to the van for another armful, however.

"Which side of the condo do you want?" Eliza asked Tifa as she stepped back inside the condo.

"It doesn't matter to me and Cloud won't care." Tifa answered.

"I think the girls want to stay together." Eliza said. Tifa had assumed they would want to do that anyway.

"Okay. Since our endless slew of stuff is slowly migrating across the floor we'll unpack on this side." Tifa said dragging a suitcase across the floor.

"Can you believe that the four of us packed this much?" Tifa said. The side of the condo Tifa had claimed was one bedroom, the laundry room and another smaller bedroom. The other side of the condo was one large bedroom, and two smaller bedrooms. One room wouldn't even be used in this condo. "Denzel can stay in this back bedroom over here, Eliza." Tifa said throwing a duffle bag of his in the back room. She wasn't sure if Eliza had heard her or not and she hoped there was nothing breakable in that bag.

"This is everything." Cloud said standing in the middle of an explosion of crap. Denzel, Marlene and Stella had come back inside from the deck to find their things in the midst of this pile and unpack in their rooms accordingly. "How about you put all those juice boxes in the fridge and I will start unpacking our suitcases?" Tifa asked. Cloud was already one step ahead of her. The sooner they all got unpacked the sooner they made it to the beach.

Tifa looked around their bedroom; the first thing she wanted to do was open these windows and let the sound of the ocean infiltrate the room. There was a small deck attached to this room as well. She didn't understand why anyone would ever want to close the blinds on these windows with such a sight to uphold outside. As she ratted through the stuff laid out on the bed; Tifa thought about Garrison Mackey's odd behavior today, hoping it was all coincidental and nothing worse. She didn't let it muddle her thoughts long as she started putting things in drawers. She worked quickly and it hadn't been thirty minutes when she finally returned to the kitchen to find Cloud staring into the refrigerator.

"What are you looking at?" she asked.

"We have sixty juice boxes and a block of cheese…" Cloud said still trying to figure out what went wrong here. Tifa laughed. "I'm thinking we used really bad judgment this time." Cloud said.

"Everything is unpacked." Tifa was now standing behind Cloud looking into the refrigerator at a sea of flavorful juice boxes. She let her arms creep their way around his waist. He closed the door and turned around to face Tifa.

"Can you believe we're here right now? I'm standing in the kitchen of an oceanfront condo with you and we are about to have our first kiss at the beach. Don't worry it's going to be hot…it's always hot for us." Cloud said.

_We. Our. Us._ Those were powerful, powerful words…


	4. Oh, Tifa

Marlene and Stella worked furiously on their sand castle before the tide would come in to take it away. Tifa couldn't help but notice the look on Eliza Mackey's face.

"Eliza, he may have the hottest body ever but believe me Denzel is going to cream him with that ball. Cloud won't be able to keep up." Eliza blushed a little bit; she laughed.

"You know they were talking about him at the school the other day." She said.

"Oh god I can hear it now…it was the day the kids needed a sack lunch for that fun day, wasn't it? I think their lunches that day consisted of fruit snacks, cookies, potato chips and lemon-lime soda." Tifa said rolling her eyes.

"I only wish the conversation I heard would have been that innocent. I don't know if those teachers are more jealous of you for looking the way you do or the fact that you're with him. Maybe both of those." Eliza said. Tifa laughed.

"I'm lucky, that's for sure. For so many reasons, I'm lucky. Not just because Cloud is the sexiest man alive but because we made it through hell and back without letting our family fall completely apart." Tifa said. Tifa was right, two years ago the way Cloud just up and left her and the kids without an explanation nearly killed her. Marlene cried everyday and harbored so much resentment toward the men in her life that had let her down. Denzel had been a wreck and in the middle of all that Tifa had to be the backbone that held all this together. She had been so mad and hurt at Cloud for wallowing in his own self pity and not even saying a damn thing to her about it. Despite how angry she had been; she never let it show and she never once raised her voice at Cloud. Thank god all that was behind them and their life was better than it had ever been.

"I think mine's just starting to crumble." Eliza said. She had a good point; her husband hadn't even come down to the beach yet. He was still upstairs in the condo.

"You know what; don't think that way; not yet. We just got here and I want you have a wonderful time. Your husband doesn't deserve you and your beautiful daughter if he can't be honest with you." Tifa said seriously.

"Oh, Tifa…thank you." Eliza said.

"You sound like Cloud. There are different levels though….of 'oh Tifa', that is. See first, there is oh Tifa, like 'oh Tifa, I forgot to pay our electric bill today so we'll have to mail it in.' Then there is the 'oh Tifa I can't believe they messed up the print on our checks again!' After that, things get more intense because it moves to 'oh shit Tifa you'll never believe what I heard at work today…and finally we have '_ooooh Tifa…_'" Eliza anxiously awaited the rest of that sentence.

"Oh, you expected more? No, that's the whole sentence." Tifa said. Eliza laughed.

"You are too funny. Hey, what do you think about getting a couple clam bakes tonight? I found a coupon in one of those books that were on the kitchen counter." Tifa smiled and tried to keep from laughing.

"A coupon, huh? A clam bake is one of those things with corn, sausage, clams, crab, shrimp, and lobster isn't it?" Tifa asked.

"It is, we could get a couple of those, boil them and eat them on the deck tonight." Eliza said.

"I think that sounds delightful and the kids love seafood. We better get three of them because just me and Cloud could tear through one. I could always mix you something to drink and get you good and sloshed up, Eliza." Tifa said. Eliza laughed.

"Maybe that's what I need to do to get my husband to sleep with me." She said. Before Tifa could say anything a wave washed in destroying all the work Marlene and Stella had done on that sand castle and surrounding Tifa and Eliza with water.

"The tide is officially in. You know, we should probably go in soon if we're going to order food. It's already 5:00. It's about time to re-apply sun block anyway. I'll feel terrible if I sunburn my kids the first day we're here." Tifa said. Did she really just call them _my _kids? She had put forth so much effort making sure people knew they weren't _really _hers…why did she just refer to them as her own? "Why don't you head inside and check on your husband without me or anyone else to interfere. We'll bring Stella and these soaked beach towels up with us in a few minutes." Tifa said standing up with Eliza. She wrapped a black sarong around her hips. "Oh and um…I'll make you something. When one of us goes to pick the order up, I'll need a bottle of tequila." Tifa said. Eliza headed toward the condo. That woman hadn't had a drink in two years. She was long over do.

Tifa started ringing saltwater out of the towels as she instructed Marlene and Stella to let the waves wash the sand off of them.

"Did you see our sand castle?" Marlene asked as a wave nearly knocked her over.

"I did see it and I saw it get washed away too." Tifa said flipping the towel around hoping to dry it out slightly.

"We're going to make another one tomorrow." Marlene said. Denzel came running toward Tifa as he caught sight of her standing in the sand and the absence of Eliza Mackey. He was laughing at something.

"What are you laughing at?" Tifa asked wrapping a partially wet towel around him.

"Me and Cloud got pounded by a wave; you didn't see it?" Denzel asked.

"I missed that one. I was probably talking to Stella's mom. Do you all want to have seafood tonight?" Tifa asked pushing wet hair out of Denzel's eyes.

"Yes! I do!" Denzel said.

"That's what we're having! Can we get shrimp?" Marlene asked.

"You bet. Come here let me take your bun down so your hair can dry a little." Tifa said as Marlene turned around for her to start pulling bobby pins out of her hair. Tifa thought it was better to stack Marlene's hair on top her head in a bun rather than have her braid falling down her back.

"Are we going in I guess?" Cloud asked of Tifa.

"Yeah, Eliza is going to order clam bakes tonight." Tifa said. The five of them made their way up the beach and back to the condo. Tifa had a feeling the kids would be exhausted once they had their showers after being here on the beach all afternoon. It would certainly hit them all at once. Denzel watched closely as Cloud took Tifa's hand in his. He loved seeing his hand wrapped around Tifa's like that.

By 10:00 that night Cloud was sitting on a darkened deck with Denzel and Marlene. It was so pleasant out here in the dark of evening feeling the sweet caress of the coastal breeze. Marlene was half asleep on Cloud's lap and Denzel was lying on the table looking up at the black sky above him watching the clouds drift over the moon. It had been so funny earlier watching Eliza Mackey's face cringe as she tasted the tequila mixture Tifa had made for her. She was a light-weight. Even her husband couldn't handle what Tifa had made him; but my god how it lightened him up! He even paid attention to his daughter for once since they had left Midgar. Of course, he ran for his phone thirty minutes later. Those two had passed out in their room an hour ago and Stella had fallen asleep in her and Marlene's room as well. Tifa didn't care that Eliza and Garrison were drinking but she and Cloud had a steadfast rule that they never would drink in front of Marlene and Denzel…mainly because they were afraid of what they would say or do. Tifa thought it absurd that she had actually witnessed Eliza give Stella table wine once.

Cloud could feel Marlene's head hit his shoulder. She was sound asleep now. Cloud thought it best to take her to her room. He hoped he didn't wake her or the Mackey's carrying her into the back bedroom.

"She fell asleep?" Tifa lipped to Cloud as he came through the sliding door. Tifa had just gotten out of the shower and was sitting on the couch combing her damp hair out. It was nearly dry. Cloud shook his head and disappeared down the hallway. Tifa put her brush down and picked up the pen near her. There was a small piece of paper lying beside her. She wrote something on it; folded it in two and picked up her brush again. "She's such a sound sleeper. She didn't budge when I put her down." Cloud said returning from the hallway.

"Is there um…is there a door…to that hallway?" Tifa asked.

"Yeah, why?" Cloud asked.

"You should close it." Tifa said. Cloud did as she said and returned to the deck with Denzel. He wondered if Denzel was asleep on that table he had been so quiet. After a few more minutes of brushing Tifa decided she would stop there. She opened up the door and crept up behind Cloud. She let her hands drape over his shoulders until her hands were resting on his. Tifa shoved that little piece of paper into his hand.

"I'm uh…I'm going to bed." She said pulling her hands back up his arms and letting her fingertips brush Cloud's neck. There was something in her touch; something playful and perhaps even seductive.

"Okay, I'll be in soon." Cloud said even though Tifa was gone now. He wondered what in the world she had put in his hand. He unfolded the small paper. It was dark out here but the reflection from the lamp inside provided enough light for Cloud to see what Tifa had written. He could feel his mouth go dry. It was the filthiest, raunchiest thing Tifa had ever written in her life…and it was so hot: 'wet, horny slut wants to fuck you badly'. Cloud could feel the sweat forming on his palms and heart beating faster.

"Cloud?" Denzel's voice snapped Cloud's mind back to a cleaner state for a moment. He quickly crunched the paper up in his fist until his knuckles turned white.

"Yeah? Huh! I'm paying attention! I am not distracted at all!" he answered Denzel. It was a bit of an overreaction.

"Could I take a glass of water to bed with me?" Denzel asked.

"Water…glass…yes, yes you can. You can do that...when you go to bed. So are you…are you going to bed right now? Like….right this minute…like right now?" Cloud wiped the sweat from his forehead knowing very well that didn't come out at all the way he had intended. Denzel sat up on the table and turned around to face Cloud. Denzel had a strange look on his face.

"You like you could use a glass too." Denzel said hopping off the table.

"Ooooh…I could…use something." Cloud said hoping Denzel didn't come one step closer to him.

"Well, I'm going to bed, goodnight Cloud." Denzel said. Crap, crap, crap…this was the most awkward hug ever since Cloud had one hand clenched in a ball. And another arm wrapped around Denzel.

"Goodnight." Cloud said hoping that Denzel didn't say another word. Cloud got up shortly after Denzel left the deck. He pulled the glass door shut and turned the lamp out beside the couch. The condo was dark now. Cloud could hear Denzel's door close. Cloud took a deep breath and crammed the paper in his pocket. He watched Denzel's door until he saw the light disappear. Cloud could feel the clamminess of his hands and the sweat on his neck as he slowly opened the door. The only thing dirtier than what Tifa had written was the way she was dressed. Her soft hair hung over the edge of the bed. She rolled over a bit and let her eyes meet Cloud's. He hurriedly closed the door behind him.

"You don't mind that I'm wearing your shirt do you…I didn't button it." Tifa said as she laid there in Cloud's white long-sleeved shirt. She had the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and what she wore underneath his shirt would make any hot-blooded man weak in the knees. Cloud leaned against the door. The light from the TV illuminated every curve of her.

"This shirt smells like you…I could almost get off on that alone…_almost_." Tifa said. She reached a hand toward Cloud. He thought his heart may beat out of his chest right now. He still hadn't said a word. Cloud walked to her putting his hand in hers. Tifa interlaced her fingers with his and brought the back of his hand to her lips.

"You're sweating…" Tifa said resting his palm on her face.

"You make me sweat…you did ten years ago…and you do now." Cloud said. She had never seen him with such hungry eyes. They were four hundred miles from Midgar and they didn't have a damn thing in the world to do the next day. Things were about to heat up.


	5. You're Radiant

The first two days of this vacation had been more than wonderful. It was hard to believe that they only had two days left before it was time to return to Midgar. Tifa was in the kitchen when Cloud's phone rang. She didn't bother looking to see who it was first.

"Hello?" Tifa answered it.

"Guess who it is! Yuffie! Hey Tifa! Did you know that you have a really great phone voice? You so do! It's so sweet and soft and…" Tifa cut Yuffie.

"Yuffie, it's 8:30 in the morning. What do you want?" Tifa asked.

"Oh, yeah! Right! Hey, so where are you anyway? Are you and Cloud away somewhere? I came over to see you this morning and you aren't home." Yuffie said excitedly.

"You came over to see us at 8:30 in the morning?" Tifa asked putting Yuffie on speakerphone. "And to answer your question; we're at the beach. We won't be back for another couple days."

"Wow! You're at the beach! Are the kids with you? I bet they're not! You needed some time away from them didn't you? I mean I don't know what you and Cloud are doing but if I were to guess I'd say he's fucking…." Tifa cut Yuffie off as Cloud appeared from their bedroom.

"Yuffie did you actually want anything?" Tifa asked.

"Why is this a bad time? Oh my god, are you naked right now?" Yuffie asked. Cloud sat at the kitchen counter amused by Yuffie's end of the conversation. Tifa sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Yuffie…me and Cloud are making a porno in the middle of the floor right now." Tifa said as dryly as she could.

"Oh my god! I _knew_ you two were having sex! Are you two really making a…" Tifa cut Yuffie off again.

"Yuffie, I'm toasting waffles and dicing strawberries, what did you want?" Tifa asked shifting her eyes on Cloud.

"Oh I didn't want anything; I just wondered where the hell you all were and I wanted to say hi! You have a shitload of mail! Do you want me to take it with me and give it to you when you get back home?" Yuffie asked. Cloud shook his head no.

"Tell her to just leave it…wait…I can't believe I'm saying this but tell her to go through it and see if there is anything with the company letter head on it." Cloud said.

"Hey Yuffie, will you go through that mail and see if there is anything marked Strife Delivery?" Tifa asked.

"Sure! Okay, let's see here…bill, bill, junk mail, junk mail, junk mail, department store sale…" Tifa interrupted Yuffie.

"Okay, Yuffie, don't tell us what ALL the mail is." Tifa said rolling her eyes at Cloud.

"Right, right…Strife Delivery…looking…yeah here's something…here's something else…and…oh, here's a coupon for carpet shampooing! Are you going to use this, if not I completely want this!" Yuffie said. Cloud planted his face in his hands.

"Tell her to put the delivery service stuff on top of the mail stack." Cloud mumbled.

"You can have the coupon and put the delivery service mail on top. It was delightful talking to you Yuffie, we'll see you when we get home." Tifa said as Yuffie clumsily hung up her end of the phone. Cloud took the phone from the counter top and closed it.

"Just when I think Yuffie can't get any more…Yuffie." Cloud said. He lost his eyes in Tifa's every move.

"What?" Tifa asked Cloud as she finished chopping the strawberries in front of her.

"You glow…you're just…radiant; that's all." Cloud said. Tifa put her elbows on the kitchen counter and slid forward toward Cloud shoving the syrup with her.

"It's not me, it's the way I look since you've been fucking me like a…well it's unbelievable and we will _never_ be able to have sex like that at home let's leave it at that." Tifa said.

"No…it's you…I just get your blood rushing faster. Hey…isn't that Garrison's phone?" Tifa looked at the phone toward the end of the kitchen counter. It was blinking as if it had a message.

"It is." Tifa said. Cloud reached over for it.

"You think I should do it?" he asked Tifa. She knew what it meant.

"I'm afraid of what you might find but…yeah…I think you should." Tifa said. Cloud grabbed a small piece of paper and began going through the call log.

"We have a problem Tifa…he's having an affair. All the evidence is right here." Cloud said.

"Oh god…go through his text messages." Tifa said disappointedly. Just then Marlene appeared from around the corner.

She hopped up on the barstool beside Cloud. It startled Cloud and he quickly put the phone down. Marlene let a sea of bobby pins fall over the counter. Cloud examined her neck.

"Good morning, you're sunburned. You need to wear one of Denzel's shirts when you go out today, okay?" Cloud said.

"Okay, I want you to fix my hair." Marlene said shoving her many bobby pins toward Cloud. Tifa laughed pulling another waffle out of the toaster.

"You want me to what? Eat a waffle with me first then we'll see about that." Cloud said. Marlene laughed. Denzel wasn't far behind Marlene. He was already dressed to go outside.

"Morning! Guess what! The turtle likes the seashell I gave him!" Denzel said.

"That's great Denzel, do you want a waffle?" Tifa asked him. Denzel shook his head yes.

By the time the four of them had finished breakfast the Mackey's had all awoken and Cloud had Marlene on the couch preparing to do the impossible…fix her hair.

"Good luck with that. I'm going to change." Tifa said looking at all of the bobby pins, Marlene's hair band, and her brush on the table in front of the couch.

"I can do this Tifa! When you come back…well I'll show you!" Cloud said secretly wondering if he could actually do this. Marlene sat in front of him in the floor handing over her brush. He hoped Garrison Mackey wouldn't notice that his phone was in a new location. Denzel had gone out on the deck.

"Okay, hand me your tie thing." Cloud told Marlene. She did exactly that."

"No, Cloud it's too loose! Make it tighter!" Marlene said feeling a very loose pony tail on the back of her head. Cloud pulled the band out and tried again.

"Is that okay?" he asked her.

"Yes!" Marlene answered. Now came the hard part. Cloud wadded her hair up in a miserable ball.

"No Cloud, don't put it on top of my head, put it on the back!" Marlene said laughing.

"That is the back of your head." Cloud mumbled pulling a bobby pin out of his mouth.

"No it's not. _This_ is the back of my head!" Marlene said pointing to the back of her head.

"Oh…okay." Cloud said letting her hair fall out again and re-doing this messy bun on the back of her head. He managed to get two bobby pins in her head.

"Ow! Ow! Ooowww!" Marlene said.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to jam that into your head." Cloud said shoving more bobby pins in her head. "There. All done." Marlene stood up and shook her head. Bobby pins went everywhere and her hair fell completely down.

"Why did you do that!" Cloud asked her.

"That's how you test it! You have to see if it's tight or the waves will knock it out! You did a horrible job, Cloud!" Marlene said laughing. Tifa had just returned only to see Marlene's bobby pins all over the floor.

"Well, that was obviously a success." Tifa said sarcastically.

"There is obviously a learning curve with this." Cloud said. Tifa and Cloud were keeping Stella Mackey with them this morning because Eliza and her husband were going on a lighthouse tour and then to a wine and cheese tasting somewhere inland. They were then trading off and Cloud and Tifa were going to…well they had no clue yet but they were going to do something when the Mackey's came back.

"Could we go to the pool today, just for the morning?" Denzel asked Cloud as he came in from the deck.

"I guess we can. Make sure you put your sunscreen on first." Cloud reminded him. It wouldn't take long for the morning to slip away. Cloud was by himself in the living room when Garrison Mackey appeared.

"Hey um…I know I don't know you all that well but…the diamonds…you're…Tifa wears. What did you do to have to get her something like that?" the question caught Cloud completely off guard and as far as he was concerned he didn't need to be looking at Tifa that closely.

"I…didn't _do_ anything. I wanted to get her those." Cloud said.

"How much does something like that cost?" Garrison asked.

"About 13,000." Cloud answered him. "Why?"

"I like them. Something like that would make a great gift." Garrison said.

"For your wife?" Cloud asked him intentionally trying to corner him. Garrison turned away from Cloud.

"Yeah…yeah…yes…that's…that's right." Garrison answered. He had been caught; as if his phone log and text message record weren't enough. The only problem with this picture was that Eliza still didn't know but both Cloud and Tifa did.

It was nice; having the option of the pool at the condo. The kids had spent much more time on the beach but they didn't neglect the pool either; which is where they were now. The summer sun was going to turn Denzel into a blond by the end of this trip. It seemed like the sun was making his hair lighter every day. Tifa had to cover up today since she had gotten so much sun the day before. She looked beautiful; so what she was wearing an old black t-shirt and gray shorts that used to be thin pants but she had chopped them off long ago…she was perfect.

Tifa and Cloud sat poolside with the kids while Cloud was on the phone. Today was apparently the day that everyone was going to call him. Neither Cloud nor Tifa were prepared for what was about to happen.

"Marlene, your dad's on the phone do you want to talk to him?" Marlene swam over to the edge of the pool laughing at something. She dried her hands off on the towel Cloud was sitting on.

"Yeah, I want to talk to him…but Cloud…you're my dad, not Barret." Marlene said giggling taking the phone from Cloud and saying hello to Barret. Great, just when Cloud had become a sultry tan blond Marlene had gone and drained all the color from him with that statement. Tifa watched a bit awestruck as a happy Marlene talked to Barret; walking along the edge of the pool.

"She's never…called you that before." Tifa said softly. Cloud didn't say anything. He just looked like he had gotten hit by a truck.

"Okay Cloud, so she just referred to you as her father it's not like she told you she's doing drugs and stripping on the weekends." Tifa finally said calmly.

"I would have rather her told me that!" Cloud said. Tifa put the magazine down she was reading.

"Your eyes are as big as grapefruits right now."

"But she…" Tifa interrupted him.

"Ssshhhh….shhh….sssshhh…." Tifa reached a hand out to Cloud's pale face. "You take care of her and Barret….doesn't. Congratulations Cloud, you just became a father." Tifa said taking this a little easier than Cloud was.

"Ooooh you just wait until she calls you mom…I will…" Cloud pointed a shaky finger at Tifa. "I will do something!" he reassured her. Marlene handed the phone back to Cloud after she had finished talking to Barret. Tifa was just staring at Cloud. She smiled and shook her head.

"I agree that it's a little weird that she called you that and she never has before but you know what Cloud…believe it or not…we will survive this."

"I need to cool off." Cloud said stripping his shirt off before diving into the pool; sweating from sheer panic. Tifa laughed. Since Marlene had spent so much time with Stella she had become a fairly decent swimmer. Tifa and Cloud couldn't help but wonder if perhaps Denzel had once had a pool at his former home because he was very good and neither Cloud nor Tifa had ever taught him to swim.

By the late afternoon it was time to take the kids back inside. The Mackey's would surely be coming back soon and they had been in the pool for nearly three hours. Fortunately, Cloud had eventually gotten over the shock Marlene had given him earlier. It wasn't THAT bad, right? So what she called him dad; it wasn't like he was _really_ her father. To think, if Zack would have been around to hear that; he would still be laughing.


	6. My Weakness

Warning: There is quite a bit of sex in the next two chapters!

"Surprise!" Eliza Mackey said placing a bottle of wine on the kitchen counter.

"Eliza! You shouldn't have done that. Did you and your husband have a nice time today?" Tifa asked. The Mackey's had been back for three hours and honestly were ready to take the kids and leave again for the evening. Tifa had been asleep on the couch when they returned, the kids were asleep and Cloud had been outside reading. So, this was the first opportunity Tifa had to ask about their day.

The kids all took a nap when we came in from the pool. They should be ready to take off again." Tifa said. "Hey do me and Cloud have to wait until we get home to drink this wine?" Eliza laughed.

"No, of course not. Drink it tonight!' Eliza said. "What are you too going to do tonight?" she asked with almost too much interest.

"We have no idea. We haven't even talked about it. Cloud is in Denzel's room and they are playing some strategy game. I can tell you we are going to do something with wine for sure." Tifa laughed. Eliza smiled.

"You deserve it! Thanks for keeping Stella today. We really appreciate it. You make Cloud do something nice for you." Eliza said.

"Oh don't worry…he will." Tifa winked at Eliza. Marlene and Stella came out of their room laughing about something.

"What are you girls doing?" Tifa asked.

"We accidentally melted Stella's chapstick with the hairdryer." Marlene said. Sure enough there was a melted pink wad in Stella's pocket of her jeans.

"Oh no! Why don't you change, Stella, and I'll try to run those through the laundry while you all are gone this evening." Tifa said running her hand over the waxy mess. Stella and Marlene were still laughing about it as Stella left the room to change. "Don't worry I can get it out." Tifa reassured Eliza. It didn't take Stella and Marlene long to return. Cloud and Denzel were close behind.

"Where are you all going to eat tonight? Cloud asked as Denzel joined Eliza, Marlene and Stella.

"We're going to leave it up to them." Eliza said.

"I guess we should give you some money." Cloud said leaving the room to go find his wallet or Tifa's purse; whatever he came across first.

"Cloud, don't do that! We don't want anything!" Eliza called to him but Cloud ignored her. He soon returned and gave her some money.

"Here, just take it. If nothing else drink something with your dinner." Cloud said. "You said the kids were picking right? For the record…our kids…won't choose fast food or some place with a value menu." Cloud said. Eliza laughed. Our kids? Really? Now they were _our_ kids?

"He's serious, Eliza. Anytime we ask Marlene and Denzel where they will always pick someplace where we all sit around the table." Tifa said.

"You watch, they'll probably choose to go to some piano bar with a preset menu." Cloud said sarcastically. Eliza laughed again. Her husband was finally ready to leave as he emerged from their bedroom.

"Since we have no idea what we're doing we don't know what time we'll be back." Tifa said.

"It's okay, we'll have a great time tonight." Eliza said. And with that, the Mackey's were out the door and Marlene and Denzel waved goodbye. Once the door closed Tifa took the wine off the counter.

"So, you wanna do this tonight?" Tifa said showing the wine to Cloud.

"You know what we should do? Let's take this wine and a couple of those big blankets and drink this on the beach. We'll walk down the other way on the beach. We know what's toward the pier but we haven't walked the other way." Cloud said.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea. Let me grab a couple of glasses and go change." Tifa said.

"You don't need to change. Look at me, I'm wearing this." Cloud said referring to the fact that Cloud was wearing gray flannel boxers and a well worn burgundy t-shirt.

"Well, if you're wearing that then I can wear this tank top and these baggy capris." Tifa said reaching above her head to get two glasses. Cloud pulled the blankets out of a cabinet.

"Let's go." Cloud said turning on the lamp beside the couch.

The beach was sparsely populated tonight. It was now 6:30. Cloud and Tifa had laid out the blankets far enough up the beach so that the incoming tide wouldn't get them wet. Tifa and Cloud had been walking hand in hand in one direction for the past half-hour. They could have done anything they wanted tonight since the Mackey's took the kids…but they chose to stay here on the beach. Even if they hadn't had a bottle of wine waiting on them they likely would have stayed in tonight. It had been such a pleasant walk down the beach. They would have never had any time to do something like this at home. By 8:00 Cloud and Tifa had returned to their spot in the sand.

"I'm glad you picked up that corker at the last minute." Cloud said taking the bottle of red wine and preparing to pull the cork from it.

"I can't believe this beach is so unpopulated tonight. It's a perfect evening; where is everyone?" Tifa said as she looked around at the empty sands around them.

"Everyone probably went to dinner. Our kids are sipping champagne and indulging in caviar right now with the Mackey's and so is everyone else." Cloud said making fun of Marlene and Denzel's unusually particular taste in restaurants. Cloud took Tifa's glass from her and let the crimson liquid fill it half-way.

"What are we drinking to?" Tifa asked sniffing the wine. Cloud buried the bottle in the sand so it wouldn't fall over after pouring his glass. He wrote something on the wine cork with a marker and put it aside for the time being.

"We are drinking to you…and me…and our perfect family." Cloud said. Tifa couldn't _believe _that he had said such a thing. Whatever the hell had happened to Cloud was refreshing and a far cry from the Cloud he was years ago. Not even someone like him could be a miserable guilt-ridden mess forever. Tifa glowed all over.

"Yeah…to all of that." Tifa said clanging her glass into Cloud's. It was smooth wine; sweet with a floral finish. The Mackey's had made a good choice. Tifa put her head on Cloud's shoulder as she swirled the wine around in the glass. The ocean air was cooling down as the sun drifted toward the tides. Cloud put an arm around Tifa.

"You know…" Cloud laughed as he thought to himself. "…if Zack and Aerith were here with us instead of the Mackey's…their kids would be too young to have fun with Marlene and Denzel. I have this all figured out. Their oldest would have been three now; their baby about eighteen months and Aerith would be pregnant with another one. You would have to hear things like 'when I was pregnant with my first one…' and I would have to hear things like 'The kids are starting to sleep through the night…' Oh and Aerith would be yelling at Me and Zack for swimming out too far in the surf and then letting this kids get too close to a washed up jellyfish. 'You get back here! Zack, that's dangerous! Oh my god, will that thing sting the babies? Don't let them touch it!" Cloud said. Tifa was laughing at him.

"Oh my god Cloud, Aerith's voice sounds nothing like that!"

"I love Aerith dearly but I am aware that I sound nothing like her." Cloud said kissing the top of Tifa's head.

"I do have to say…you have that scenario thought out to the point where it is frighteningly accurate." Tifa said. Tifa took another drink of wine. "The thing is though; if Zack and Aerith were here; our lives would have played out very differently. We probably wouldn't have Marlene and Denzel, Cloud." Tifa said a bit solemnly.

"You're right…we probably wouldn't." Cloud starred out over the ocean wondering if somehow Zack knew that Cloud was finally okay.

"It's weird isn't it? At first…it was like what the hell are we going to do with these kids? I wasn't going to give up my life to take care of them and you sure as fuck wasn't going to rearrange your life for them…and now…now I can't imagine life without them. Sometimes, I think it was Aerith that lead them into our messy life only to straighten it all out." Tifa said.

"I love them, Tifa. Marlene and Denzel…I love them like they were mine. That's stupid isn't it?" Cloud asked refilling Tifa's glass before filling his own. Maybe it was Aerith's way. Perhaps those few years ago she looked down from heaven and guided those children to Cloud and Tifa.

"Of course it's not stupid. They _are_ yours, Cloud. You have every right to love them. As much effort as we have put into making sure everyone around us knew that they were in no way biologically connected to us; and that we were only taking care of them for a while has failed miserably. What started out as an obligation has become our kids that we'd never let anyone hurt." Tifa kissed soft burgundy fabric as the sun sank lower on the horizon.

"Now Zack would never do this to Aerith…but I would totally do this to you." Cloud said handing the wine cork to Tifa. She took the cork and read it already knowing that he had written something on it. They always wrote on wine corks and it would go in their drawer when they got home. The cork read: 'Had sex on the beach'.

"Well, I sure as hell won't say no to that." Tifa said gulping down the bottom of her glass quickly.

"We should drink this entire bottle of wine tonight." Cloud suggested.

"I don't know…anytime we drink that much one of us always wakes up bruised or rug burned and we're both always so sore we can hardly move…" Tifa thought a moment. "…yeah, okay we should drink this whole bottle." Tifa said. She sat her glass aside in the sand for now and put her hands on Cloud pushing him to his back on their blanket.

"So I'm going to finish this glass of wine and then you're going to make me your slave." Tifa laid on top of Cloud; the weight of her body resting on him.

"I can do that; I'll make you do anything I say." Tifa said letting her hands creep up his shirt. Cloud dug his now empty glass into the sand and put his hands on Tifa's hips.

"Give me a preview." Cloud demanded of her. Tifa had his shirt off in no time. The look in Tifa's normally sweet and endearing eyes had turned into fiery desire.

"Shut up, Cloud." Tifa said softly. She kissed him before he had a chance to disagree; not that he would have. There was something irresistibly hot about being dominated by Tifa. One thing was certain; Cloud _never_ let anyone have the upper hand with him except Tifa. Cloud could feel Tifa's hands rubbing all over him. he gasped.

"Hurt me…just a little…just enough to get me to grit my teeth." Tifa insisted as she pulled her lips away from Cloud's. She could feel a painfully hard arousal pressing into her abdomen. The first time Tifa had asked Cloud to hurt her in their bed at home he had reservations about it…but that was just one of Tifa's fetishes. She moaned deeply as she felt Cloud pinch her nipple. The louder she moaned the harder she dug her fingertips into the sides of his ribs. It was somewhat difficult to pinch her through her bra but perhaps that was part of what Tifa liked. "Oh god, yes…" Tifa hissed. She grit her teeth together hard; it was exactly what she had wanted. Tifa reached for her tank top and began to slink it slowly up her stomach. Thank goodness the dusk behind them had finally set in. Her half-nude form visible to Cloud's eyes only. She could hear him sigh out her name as Cloud watched her fondle her own breasts. Tifa moved her hips slightly to one side so she could get Cloud completely undressed underneath her. She listened carefully to the breath that escaped him as she touched pure pleasure between his legs. She wouldn't make him want for her long. The wetness between her legs was enough of an indicator that she wanted him too miserably to toy with him.

"You just relax and move with me okay? Tell me if I get too rough." Tifa said.

"Tifa, you could never get too rough with me." Cloud said.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that. I'm going to fuck you without any inhibition here on the beach where there isn't a soul around. I may get a little rough, baby." Tifa said rising to her knees to pull her slouchy pants off only to reveal her wet panties underneath. She slid those off too careful to make sure all of their clothes stayed in a pile on their blanket. Tifa took Cloud's hands in hers as she positioned herself the way she wanted to be on top of him. Tifa had plenty of strength in her thighs to rock Cloud's world for as long as he could stand. He already knew she was good at it; but she was about to prove just _how_ good she could be. Tifa's hips were as rhythmic as the ocean waves. With each move she made, she got a little more intense with Cloud, pushing him deeper inside her and allowing herself to take complete control of his body.

"Move with me, baby." Tifa begged of him. This may have been the hottest thing they had ever done. Cloud's voice was weak and helpless as he pleaded for Tifa. She had control of his orgasm and she was not going to let him have it anytime soon. But Cloud wanted it that way. She had seen this look on his face before and she knew his pulse was racing. "Move with me harder now." Tifa said as she moaned for him. She moved Cloud's hands to her hips and instructed him to hold on to her. She didn't bother keeping her voice down. Why should she? The sun had long disappeared and there wasn't anyone around. She was aggressive and raw. Tifa didn't spare him even a slight chance of getting closer than her to climaxing before she did.

"Can we just stay here and you fuck me like this all night?" Cloud begged breathlessly.

"You better watch your mouth." Tifa playfully warned Cloud after hearing what he had just said to her.

"Why, what are you going to do about it?" Cloud asked squeezing her hips tightly. Tifa leaned over until her breasts were pushing up against him.

"Because you might give me too many ideas." Tifa whispered. Cloud cried out for her as her body slid over his. She had already been pretty rough with him so it was time for her to lighten up before things got too close. "Listen, I'm going trade you places and you're going to make a mess all over me; do you hear me?" Tifa asked. Her voice was husky and unrefined.

"Yes." Was all Cloud said as he shut his eyes tightly at the feeling of Tifa's tender hands in his hair.

"Cloud?" Tifa's voice was sweeter now."

"Yes?" he asked her weakly.

"I love you." She told him before grabbing his shoulders and forcing him on top of her.


	7. After Midnight

It was 12:30 and Tifa and Cloud had finished their bottle of wine approximately one hour earlier.

"We have got to be quiet when we go up to the condo tonight." Cloud said. Tifa laughed. She had been laughing at nearly everything Cloud had been saying for the past thirty minutes.

"Tifa, that statement wasn't even funny!" Cloud said laughing with her just as hard. Oh god, this was why they normally didn't spend the night getting hammered. They were currently in the 'everything is funny no matter what it is' phase. Tifa wiped the tears out of her eyes. Her stomach actually hurt from laughing so hard.

"No, no you're right. You are exactly right Cloud. God, you're hot and you're right! We have to go upstairs tonight and not wake everyone the hell up." Tifa said laughing again.

"Tifa, we have a problem…we're kind of not on this blanket right now. We will have sand on us for sure. Oh shit….it's going to be in our clothes." Cloud said standing up clumsily. "Oh my god, my head is spinning like…what's something that spins a lot?" Cloud asked. Tifa laughed again.

"Come on help me get this blanket folded up." Tifa struggled to gain her balance.

"We're sandy Tifa, what should we do about that?" Cloud asked her.

"Let's just get in the pool on our way back to the condo." Tifa said.

"Yes! Yes! We'll get in the pool. That's why I love you Tifa! You come up with great ideas!" Cloud said as he clumsily took Tifa's hand and stumbled up the beach with her.

"You know, I've had a hell of a good time tonight." Tifa said.

"It's only 12:30 the night is far from over, Tifa. You don't even know what a good time is yet." Cloud told her.

" I swear to god Cloud….if we get upstairs in the isolation of our bedroom and you tell me you are tired from all this wine…I will…well I will be highly disappointed let's just leave it at that!" Tifa warned.

"Tifa! Tifa! When have I _ever_ been too tired to have sex with you?" Cloud asked tugging at her tank top as Tifa broke hands with him and slipped too quickly up the beach. "Hey, don't walk that fast; get back here and answer my question!" Cloud said drunkenly to Tifa. She just laughed at him. "Tifa, I'm like…all serious and stuff right now! When have I ever been too tired?" Yeah, the tone of his voice was _sooo_ serious…if serious meant laughing at every other sentence.

"Come on, get up here! You can walk faster than that. We have to get in the pool, Cloud!" Tifa insisted.

"Okay, well we need to make some pool rules….rule one: neither of us can drown and rule two: my hair will turn green from the chlorine if I don't wash it tonight." Cloud said.

"Cloud…first of all; your first rule is stupid and secondly your second rule doesn't make any sense." Tifa said grabbing Cloud's hand again as they approached the darkened walkway that lead to their pool and to the condo.

"Tifa! I always…I don't know what I was going to say. Okay, take your clothes off so I can watch." Cloud said as he and Tifa stumbled around on the pool deck. They were both in a much too inebriated state to be doing this but who needed logic when you were covered in sand!

"What if I want you to take your clothes off first?" Tifa asked peeling her tank top off.

"Well then…yeah okay." Cloud responded to her getting undressed faster than Tifa could. "This is just for a minute….long enough to get all this excess sand off." Cloud said.

"Okay just don't…" Tifa couldn't finish her sentence, it was too late. "…get your hair wet. Now look Cloud! We are going to have to explain how that happened when we get inside the condo!" Tifa scolded him stepping carefully into the pool.

"No one will be awake; we won't have to explain anything." Cloud reminded her reaching out to take her hands in his.

"That's true…but now you have to wash your hair or the chlorine will turn it green." Tifa said wrapping her arms around him.

"Damn it! Why did I go under water and get it wet? I just had this conversation with you." Cloud said holding Tifa against him with one arm and paddling his way to the deep end of the pool with the other.

"I have never been naked in a pool with you but I like how it feels." Tifa said.

"See this is exactly why we should put in a pool at home. How long have I been saying that?" Cloud said.

"Well, you've never mentioned a pool before at home and we live on the second floor above a bar so we could never have a pool, Cloud." Tifa reminded him.

"Oh…right. Alright, well never mind I've never talked about a pool. You ready to get out? We're not sandy anymore." Cloud said. Tifa agreed. She was starting to get a little cold anyway since the night air had cooled the pool's water temperature. Now, the challenge would be getting up those stairs and into the condo without waking everyone in the entire unit. "Now, Tifa? Beautiful, beautiful Tifa? Our plan is this…if anyone asks if we drank an entire bottle of wine we answer no. If anyone asks us if we've been having sex on the beach we answer maybe and if anyone asks us if this is our blanket we answer yes. It will be like they are asking a magic eight ball….the answers are no, maybe, yes!" Cloud deduced. That was the stupidest statement ever. Tifa just sighed. How the hell was she supposed to answer that? Funny, neither of them had thought about how to explain their wet clothes should such confrontation arise. They had made it up three flights of stairs without too much of a commotion but here they were at the door of condo number 3B and neither of them knew where the key was.

"Here, hold all this and I'll check my pocket of these pants." Tifa said turning around. Thank goodness it was there. However, most unfortunately Tifa turned her head around at the wrong time. Cloud didn't see her and turned around the same time Tifa did planting his elbow into the side of her face. "Oh! Holy mothers of….ooooh shit!" Tifa laughed and screeched at the same time.

"Oh my god! Tifa! Oh my…I just nailed you in the face! Oh my god…ooooh shit, Tifa are you okay?" Cloud said unsuccessfully trying to see where he had hit her.

"It's okay, I'll just get some ice because that is going to bruise. Here's the key. Let's get inside before we do anything else stupid!" Tifa said shoving Cloud out of the way so she could open the door. She didn't open it all that quietly. She couldn't turn any lights on but she quickly slipped through the door and into the kitchen. Cloud was right behind her closing the door as softly as possible. He dropped their small pile of stuff near the kitchen counter. Tifa had the freezer door open in no time.

"Tifa! What are you doing! You're going to wake everyone up!" Cloud whispered frantically as he noticed the radiating light from the freezer fill the kitchen.

"You just slammed your elbow into my head. I need some ice and I want something to eat." Tifa said logically.

"My god it's cold in here." Cloud said putting his arms around Tifa and his head against her neck. "I'm sorry I nearly blinded your with my elbow. I'll make it up to you I promise." Cloud said as Tifa pulled an entire box of popsicles out of the freezer.

"You will, huh? How will you do that?" Tifa asked shutting the freezer door and taking Cloud in her arms. She pulled his body into hers as she leaned against the refrigerator door.

"Wait, what are you doing with an entire box of popsicles?" Cloud asked.

"There are only three left so I'm going to put one on my eye and eat the other two. Now…more importantly what are _you_ going to do with _me_?" Tifa wondered.

"I was thinking we'd play rough. But…I wanna play nice too." Cloud said shoving his hips into Tifa. She held him gently; forgetting that the side of her face was still throbbing. It was hard to concentrate on the pain in her face when his hips were grinding in to her like this.

"I like what you're doing right now so why don't you try that with your clothes off?" Tifa said kissing him in the filthiest manner she possibly could. Cloud still tasted like wine. Thank god they hadn't managed to break something in this kitchen. The condo was still dark and no one was stirring. There was no need to check on the kids. It was 1:15 and everyone was sound asleep.

"You go wash your hair because I don't want to hear you bitch about having green hair tomorrow and I will be all kinds of naked waiting on you to have your way with me." Tifa said letting her hands drift much too far south. It was going to be hard for Cloud to get his hair Chlorine-free with Tifa's hands where they were right now. "Now come on, if we stay in this kitchen much longer we will knock something over for sure." Tifa said as she carefully guided Cloud behind her and out of this accident waiting to happen. Cloud could have closed their bedroom door a little more carefully. "Don't be too long." Tifa said throwing herself in the middle of their covers and beginning to strip her clothes off. Her head was spinning from all that wine…or maybe all that sex earlier… but whatever it was; it was a good kind of spinning. She flung her clothes aside quickly and laid there listening to the ocean waves crash in the distance. They hadn't closed their window earlier and it was such a mesmerizing sound. Tifa shifted her head toward the bathroom as the water in the shower shut off. Cloud didn't even bother getting dressed as he clumsily got out of the shower and turned the light out before joining Tifa.

"You…are so beautiful and I want you to know that. You'd look even more beautiful if you'd get on your knees and let me fuck you." Cloud said laying beside Tifa and putting his arms around her. He didn't have to ask her twice.

"We have had so much fuckin' wine Cloud can you even get it up? Oh shit! Damn it….can you ever! Oh my….god." Tifa buried her face in the covers at the bottom of their bed as she felt Cloud plow into her without any kind of warning from behind. She held on to the edge of the mattress as her body lay nearly flat. She wanted him to have her; she wanted to struggle to hold on to the mattress. Tifa wanted to scream into the covers for Cloud until she was hoarse. She knew he could get her moaning and begging for more in no time. The only problem was that they both had lots of wine surging through them; it was hard to tell how long they could keep this stamina up. Tifa could feel Cloud's fingers in her hips; if he squeezed her too hard she would be bruised there too. Tifa didn't care; she _wanted_ to wake with light bruises on her hips.

Tifa felt Cloud's weight on her back as she lay there with sheets clenched in her fists. He pushed her legs close together which changed how everything felt. Cloud didn't even think before sinking his fingernails into Tifa's shoulders. Tifa was at the point where she was shrieking his name into the loose sheet below her. That only fueled Cloud on, pounding into her with incredible force and panting on the back of her neck. This was good...so good in fact Cloud had to pull away from Tifa. She breathlessly turned herself around and laid into the pillows at the head of their bed listlessly. She couldn't even move her legs right now. Tifa was exhausted and she had forgotten about those popsicles she had brought with her; so much for putting something cold on the side of her head.

Just as Cloud had wanted; he loomed over Tifa and dug his fingers into her hair. She was still struggling to catch her breath as Cloud watched her with drunken eyes. Tifa's cheeks were pink and blotchy and her entire body was on fire. His touch was gentle, predictable and soft. Cloud rested his forehead against Tifa's as the weight of his sweaty body sunk into her. Even Cloud had weak arms right now; Tifa held on to him forcing what tension was left in his elbows to release. Cloud could feel Tifa's heart beat against him quickly as he looked in the darkness at the spot on the side of Tifa's face where he had hit her earlier. He couldn't see anything so there was no use in even trying to figure out how bad it was. Just when Tifa thought she had caught her breath she could feel Cloud shove her legs farther apart underneath her. She wasn't sure how he did it since his arms were lying on either side of her face but she didn't question it any further.

Tifa squirmed a little underneath Cloud; the more she squirmed the faster their rhythm became. It wasn't hard or rough…it was intense and grinding. This was the kind of sex that made Tifa come in no time. Maybe it was the way Cloud's entire body rubbed against her; maybe it was the amount of pressure between her legs from where his hips hit her repeatedly; at any rate Tifa moaned harder the closer she came to climaxing. It was going to happen fast and it was going to be heated. Only time would tell how sore they would both be in the morning.


	8. Blame the Chapstick

"I need your credit card." Marlene said leaning up against Cloud and stretching her arms up his chest. She could almost reach the top of his shoulders since she had grown so much over the past four months.

"You need my credit card?" Cloud said grabbing her hands.

"Yes, I need it. We're going shopping today!" Marlene said excitedly.

"Oh we are? And you think all the retailers are going to let you use my credit card?" Cloud asked her. Marlene laughed.

"I can try." Marlene said.

"Did you and Denzel have a nice time with the Mackey's last night?" Cloud asked her.

"Yes! Look! Mrs. Mackey painted my nails. She painted Stella's nails too." Marlene said wiggling her fingers free and showing Cloud. He didn't know what to think. How dare Eliza Mackey deface Marlene like this!

"My god, you have sparkly fingernails." Cloud said looking at her fingers in disgust. "Are you going to have a pop-tart with me this morning?" Cloud asked her.

"Yes! I want the strawberry one." Marlene said. "But then you have to get dressed because you can't wear that to the mall." In the bathroom, Tifa had just finished covering her face with powder foundation hiding the bruise on the side of her face. It wasn't nearly as bad as she thought it would be. In fact she was much less damaged this morning than she normally was when she and Cloud drank that much. There must have been less stuff here at the beach for her to get injured with. Tifa turned the bathroom light out and headed for the kitchen only to be stopped by Denzel in the hallway.

"Tifa!" he said excitedly running over to her and throwing his arms around her stomach. As Denzel jammed his small body into her it didn't help to ease the soreness that overcame her. She put her arms over his shoulders as Denzel squeezed Tifa tighter. "Did you miss me?" Tifa asked him laughing.

"I stayed up waiting for you and Cloud but I fell asleep at 11:30. Guess what! We had my favorite last night!" Denzel said not loosening his grip on Tifa.

"Let me guess…you had cheeseburgers?" Tifa asked.

"No!" Denzel said.

"You had chicken tenders with honey mustard?" Tifa guessed again.

"No!" Denzel shook his head.

"You had chili and peanut butter with jelly sandwiches?" Tifa guessed a third time.

"No!" Denzel said again.

"Well, what favorite did you have? This could go on all morning!" Tifa told him. Denzel laughed.

"Tacos!" Denzel said happily. Tifa would have never ever guessed that. She knew he liked tacos but she wasn't aware that they had made their way into Denzel's favorites. Tifa and Denzel walked into the kitchen.

"Marlene says we're going shopping today and she's already trying to get a credit card. Strawberry pop-tart?" Cloud said offering Tifa a nearly eaten pop-tart. She took it knowing that Cloud would make her another one.

"So we're going shopping today, huh?" Tifa asked Marlene as she went into the kitchen.

"Uh huh, and we have to get dressed right after breakfast so we have time to go to the beach later today!" Marlene insisted. It seemed as though she had this day planned already. It didn't take long for Eliza Mackey to appear from her bedroom.

"Here, you two go over to the couch and we'll join you in a minute. Eliza might want to have breakfast over here." Marlene said shewing Marlene and Denzel off the barstools and toward the couch. Eliza laughed.

"They can eat there. I'm going to make scrambled eggs this morning, does anybody want some?" Eliza asked opening the refrigerator as Cloud waited on the pop-tart he had put in the toaster for Tifa.

"No thanks, Eliza. I prefer pure sugar and artificial flavors in the morning as indicated by our toaster pastries." Cloud said. Tifa was pouring glasses of milk for Marlene and Denzel. She turned around and looked at the plate in front of Cloud.

"My god how many pop-tarts did you make earlier!" she was shocked when she saw five of them on a plate.

"I went for variety. There are two strawberry, one vanilla milkshake, one raspberry, and one chocolate fudge." Cloud explained. Tifa just shook her head and took the milk to Marlene and Denzel. However, once Tifa had returned to the kitchen and _thought_ she had them settled on the couch, there was Cloud reaching over her head for something…Marlene reaching for a paper towel beside Tifa, and Denzel trying to open a drawer underneath her.

"Okay, you three have got to go. Cloud…move. Marlene, I'll get you a paper towel…Denzel what do you need?" Tifa asked pleasantly annoyed by the fact that poor Eliza was trying to use the stove in this kitchen and Tifa had her family piled on top of her sore body right now.

"Why do I have to move?" Cloud asked. Tifa shoved Cloud out of the way, pushed Marlene to her left and tugged Denzel out from behind her. "Here, here! Now move! All of you move! Just let me pour this coffee and I promise I will take care of whatever you need. Marlene and Denzel scurried out of the kitchen but Cloud just leaned over on Tifa as much as he could because he knew it would annoy her. Eliza laughed.

"No, Eliza, you don't understand…it's like this every morning at home…I always have one of them on me." Tifa said softly. Eliza laughed again as her daughter emerged from her bedroom. Cloud finally took this overflowing plate of pop-tarts to the couch with Marlene and Denzel. Tifa wasn't far behind. It was time to get the details of the morning together.

There was one thing that hadn't yet been addressed on this trip. Cloud had kept careful records on Garrison Mackey and neither him nor Tifa had shared with Eliza what they knew. There hadn't been a good time to share such devastating news with her. However, they were leaving in one day and Eliza was going to have to know sooner than later. Garrison was the last one to arrive to this morning breakfast-fest. He never had much to say. Cloud wondered if this guy had always been this way or if there was a time when he acted differently. It was a shame this man was going to throw his entire family away. Cloud knew he had made mistakes, but this guy was making mistakes that were seemingly irreversible. At least Cloud had been redeemed.

By 11:00 that day it was time to head out. Well, it was almost time to go. "We have a problem." Cloud said to Tifa.

"What is it?" Tifa asked running a brush through her hair.

"Marlene is wearing lipstick." Cloud said on the verge of a flip out.

"She what?" Tifa asked a little confused. Cloud showed the evidence to Tifa.

"What the? Cloud, this is cherry chapstick." Tifa said.

"It made her lips cherry flavored and slightly tinted." Cloud said.

"And?" Was Tifa's response.

"And! That is totally unacceptable! She's ten!" Cloud said trying his best not to completely flip but he was kind of already there.

"Again…this is chapstick and I'm pretty sure that if Marlene wears chapstick it's not the end of the world." Tifa said putting her hand on the side of Cloud's face.

"What if…there is a pedophile at this outdoor place? And there's Marlene just walking around with…" Tifa kissed him and cut him off.

"Okay, Cloud? She's going to be with us so I'm pretty sure she will not be an easy pedophile target and secondly I think you're overreacting just a little bit." Tifa said logically. He blinked a few times.

"So…what you're saying is chapstick is like…different?" Cloud asked seriously. Tifa laughed and put her arms around him.

"Cloud…" Tifa sighed and then laughed to herself. "Zack would be laughing his ass off at you right now." That lightened Cloud up immediately. Tifa knew it would because it was the truth. Zack would be making fun of him and Aerith would be scolding Zack for making fun of the situation. Tifa could picture it as if it were real.

"Yeah…he'd say…dude, you are so the father you never wanted to be. Then he'd throw something at me." Cloud's smile faded a bit as he stared blankly into Tifa's shoulder. She moved her hand to the side of his face and wiped the tears forming in his eyes.

"It's alright…you're alright…Zack's in heaven looking down at you and giving you hell for being an over reactive father figure." Tifa pushed his head over on her shoulder. She hadn't seen Cloud this vulnerable for a long time now. It was strange how he only showed how he really felt around Tifa and Tifa only. He wasn't really sure what made him suddenly start crying. Maybe he was crying out of fear of Marlene growing up too fast rather than missing Zack. Cloud hugged Tifa tighter. She could feel her cotton shirt becoming wet in one small spot.

"You're alright…you're alright…" Tifa knew how to handle this even though she didn't know what the hell had gotten Cloud so emotional but even now; he still had these moments. As Tifa held him she remembered her birthday just three months ago and how much Cloud had cried late that night as he laid there in bed with her. She had never seen his eyes so glassy and red. For a while that night, she thought he may cry the mako right out of them. Cloud raised his head up and looked at Tifa.

"You wiped your nose on my shirt didn't you?" Tifa asked as seriously as she could wiping her hands over wet streaks on Cloud's face. Cloud laughed at her. He shook his head.

"Yeah." He answered her.

"Well, I'll just change that and you…it's alright, okay? You're alright, baby. Can you go downstairs I'll meet you at the van in just a couple minutes?" Tifa asked. Cloud's sturdy exterior had been completely disheveled.

"I want to wait on you." Cloud said meekly.

"Okay, just sit down here. I'll only be a minute." Tifa said. It was just like comforting an insecure and scared little boy. It was strange, she had said words so similar to Cloud so many years ago in Nibelheim. She said words nearly identical to a scared and sick Denzel only a few years ago. It must have been something in her voice. Or perhaps it was her gentleness and her kindness because words like that worked every time.

Tifa dug around in a drawer for something else to put on that would match her shorts. Cloud turned around and stared outside at the crashing waves. They weren't nearly as comforting as Tifa but there was something calming about them. "Alright, let's go." Tifa said. Cloud turned around.

"You can't wear that! It's all…low cut and stuff!" Cloud said with a pathetic look on his face. Tifa put her head against her fist.

"You're allowed one freak out a day and you've already used it, plus you bought this for me just last month. Let's go before they all leave us downstairs." Tifa said putting a hand on Cloud's back and leading him out of the bedroom and out of the condo.


	9. Just Like Sleeping Beauty

It had been quite a full day of shopping. Since Cloud had a birthday coming up in less than one month, Tifa justified everything they had bought that day as his birthday gifts. It was proof that Tifa spoiled Cloud. Tifa told Eliza the story of how Cloud used to get motion sickness when he was younger after Garrison Mackey did some seriously nausea inducing 'defensive driving'. Once their expedition had concluded, somehow Denzel and Marlene had talked Tifa into playing 'extreme water ball' with them in the ocean waves. After an afternoon in the surf Cloud had volunteered to grill steak and salmon on the deck for everyone. It had been a pleasant evening eating grilled meats on the deck before the crashing ocean waves. They would only have one more day to savor all this. The time was now 10:42 PM and Cloud was in the kitchen cleaning up the whirlwind of a mess he had made getting ready to cook earlier.

Eliza, and Garrison had gone for a walk on the beach and Tifa was passed out asleep on the couch. She was exhausted from what Denzel and Marlene had put her through earlier. The TV droned on in the background as Cloud opened up the dishwasher. He had just finished wiping down the counter tops but that was only a start to cleaning up his mess of butter, spices, leftover chopped vegetables and a slew of lots of other things. The ceiling fan kept the air circulating in the room making the kitchen somewhat more comfortable to be working in. The three kids had gone to their rooms forty-five minutes ago. Marlene and Stella were watching a movie with a bowl of popcorn that would practically last until tomorrow morning. Cloud had just started to put the first of the plates away when Denzel appeared.

"Denzel?" Cloud questioned not expecting to see him. He figured Denzel would be in a deep sleep by now; he had in fact had a big day today. Denzel climbed up on the barstool and watched Cloud pull the dishes out of the dishwasher. "It's nearly 11:00." He said opening up the cabinet and putting the first of the dishes inside.

"I couldn't sleep. I just kept tossing around and waking up." Denzel said. He sat there in silence.

"You want something to drink?" Cloud asked.

"Maybe a glass of water." Denzel answered a bit despondently.

"Alright, hold on just a minute and I'll get it for you." Cloud said putting the rest of the pates away in the cabinet. He got Denzel a glass of water and pushed it over toward him. Denzel put his hand on it but didn't take a drink right away. Cloud continued putting things away as Denzel sat there staring blankly at the top of the counter. Denzel hadn't been this silent the whole vacation. He watched the water in his glass, his expression much more serious than it usually was.

"Cloud?" Denzel finally said.

"Hmm?" Cloud answered him not turning around. Once again Denzel was quiet for a minute, taking his hand off the glass of water and squeezing his thumbs in both his fists.

"What's an affair?" Denzel finally asked seriously. Cloud stopped what he was doing suddenly. The question caught him off guard. Did Denzel really ask what he thought he had asked? Cloud slowly turned around and put everything in his hands down on the kitchen counter.

"What did you say?" Cloud asked wanting to make sure he had heard Denzel correctly.

"What's an affair?" Denzel repeated. His face hadn't looked this upset for a long, long time.

"Where did you hear that word?" Cloud asked, closing the dishwasher so he could lean across the counter closer to Denzel.

"Today, when we came in from the beach…I heard Mrs. Mackey in her bedroom. She sounded really sad and angry. She yelled something at her husband, wanting him to tell her if he was having an affair. She sounded so sad, Cloud. So what is it? What's an affair?" Denzel explained how he had come to hear this strange new word. Oh god, now Cloud was faced with the first truly challenging talk of his 'parenting career'. He didn't answer Denzel right away. He had to think. Shit, Denzel was nine! He was much too young to be asking these kinds of questions! But, Cloud knew there was no way in hell he could pull a fast one on Denzel and sidestep this. Denzel was smart and when he asked any question he expected an answer. There was only one way and one way only to handle this. Cloud poured himself a glass of water and went on the other side of the counter to sit on the barstool beside Denzel.

"Denzel, who used to be my best friend in the whole world?" Cloud asked.

"Zack!" Denzel answered.

"That's right. And what did I tell you that Zack and I would have frequently that was just between us?"

"A double shot." Denzel answered. The first time Cloud had told Denzel about that he never shared with Denzel that the term came from a reference to doing double shots of rum with Zack while they talked about whatever it was (usually women) they needed to talk about.

"Mmm hmm. First of all Denzel, I've never told you but a double shot is an alcohol reference but that's a talk for another day. Secondly, consider this our first double shot. There are some rules though. When we have these kinds of talks, we're both completely honest and nothing is too embarrassing to say, okay? Those are the rules; you remember those from now until the day when I'm not around to have these talks with you anymore. You understand?" Cloud asked.

"Mmm hmmm." Denzel shook his head yes. His eyes sparkled because he _finally_ got to have his first 'man to man' talk with Cloud that Zack and Cloud had affectionately termed a 'double shot' so many years ago.

"Alright, let's say two people are married. Now, you pick which one you want, the husband or the wife?" Cloud asked.

"Husband." Denzel answered finally taking a drink of the water. Cloud shook his head.

"Let's say two people are married and while they are married the husband starts dating another woman…but he's still married to his wife and his wife doesn't know. When a husband or a wife starts to date someone else while they are married, it's called an affair. " Cloud explained that amazingly well. He waited for a response from Denzel. Denzel sat his glass back down on the counter top.

"So…when Mrs. Mackey was asking her husband if he was having an affair…does that mean she was asking him if he was dating someone else even though they are married?" Denzel asked making certain he understood this.

"That's right." Cloud said. Denzel's heart sunk.

"But…two people get married because they love each other, right?" Denzel asked.

"Well, yeah that's what it's supposed to be. But sometimes, Denzel…people get married for the wrong reasons and later they do things like what Mr. Mackey is doing. Sometimes, people get married too quickly, or because they think they have to and then they make stupid, stupid mistakes later if they get married when both of them don't really want to." Cloud said. Denzel thought hard for a minute.

"But, Mrs. Mackey's such a nice lady. Why would her husband want to date someone else? It's not fair!" Denzel said.

"Sadly, Denzel we'll never know why Mr. Mackey is doing what he's doing. And you're right, it isn't fair. It isn't fair to Mrs. Mackey and it isn't fair to Stella." Cloud said.

"Cloud? Would you ever do that to Tifa? I mean, I know you and Tifa aren't married but…would you ever want to date someone else?" Denzel asked swallowing hard as if he might cry. So this is what _really_ had kept him from falling asleep. Cloud put one hand on Denzel's shoulder.

"Look at me Denzel. I would never do that to Tifa…ever. I'm not going to lie to you; I've hurt Tifa in the past. I'm… and pardon my language…a complete fuck up with Tifa but there's no way in hell I would ever be with any other woman besides her." Cloud reassured him.

"I don't think Tifa thinks you're a fuck up. I don't think you're a fuck up. I think you're a little hard to understand sometimes but Tifa understands you completely." Denzel said. Cloud smiled.

"She does understand me doesn't she? Oh and Denzel? Don't you ever say fuck again until you're at least 13." Cloud warned him. Denzel laughed.

"I promise I won't." He said. But this conversation was far from over. It wasn't really about Denzel worrying about the Mackey's. This was about Cloud and Tifa.

"Do you love Tifa?" Denzel asked.

"I love her more than anything else in this world. I love her so much I'd die for her." Cloud said taking a drink of water. Denzel's mind was in overdrive.

"I've seen you hold Tifa's hand. I like it when you do that. I've never seen you kiss her though. If you love her, why don't you kiss her? That makes me think you might…want to leave us. I mean, not right now but maybe eventually." Denzel admitted.

"I guess we couldn't decide if we wanted you and Marlene to know or not. We didn't know how you two would feel about it. I have kissed her Denzel and I'll never, ever leave you…or Marlene or Tifa. Not ever again." Cloud answered him. Denzel looked at Cloud.

"So, you have kissed her? Has she ever kissed you?" Denzel asked.

"Yes." Cloud responded.

"How long have you loved Tifa?" Denzel went on.

"Well, it became evident to me in the past five months how much I _really_ loved her. But to tell you the truth, I think I've loved her ever since I met her. You should know Denzel, that I can't live without her." Cloud said. Denzel's eyes sparkled because he was convinced Cloud was telling him the truth. Denzel was somewhat relieved now that he was getting all these questions out.

"What does it mean to have hungry eyes?" Denzel asked seemingly taking this conversation in a different direction now. Cloud didn't question where he had heard that phrase but he had guessed it was something that Eliza Mackey had said.

"It depends, really. Most of the time, Denzel…it has a sexual reference to it and I don't expect you to understand that. But…" Denzel cut Cloud off.

"Cloud, I'm almost ten! I'd understand more than you think!" That made Cloud laugh and the thing of it was that was probably true.

"I know Denzel, I know but…let me just pretend for a moment that you were as naïve as I was when I was nine." Cloud said. Denzel laughed. "Anyway, hungry eyes…it means that…" Cloud paused. Oh god, there was really no easy way to say this and one of the rules was that you _had _to be honest in conversations like these. "Most of the time Denzel, having hungry eyes means that there's someone in your life that…when you see them, when you look at them…you…can see yourself having sex with that person." Cloud said feeling like he was going to faint a little bit. It was the way he looked at Tifa so many times and he hoped so much that Denzel wouldn't ask what he thought was coming next.

"Oh…well in that case…I don't think I like Mr. Mackey all that much, Cloud." Denzel said.

"Yeah, I don't like him all that much either. And Denzel, I'm not saying I've been the best husband to…" Cloud stopped himself. He wasn't Tifa's husband…that hit him hard just now. They had a husband/wife relationship but he wasn't her husband. "Sorry…let me try again…I've not been…" Denzel stopped Cloud this time.

"Stop trying so hard Cloud. I know what you mean! It's like you're my dad but you're not _really_ my dad…well…you're Tifa's husband, but you're not _really _Tifa's husband. See, I get it!" Denzel said finishing the water in his glass.

"You do get it don't you?" Cloud smiled at him.

"There is one thing I still don't get…I don't get why you won't let me see you kiss Tifa." Denzel thought a moment, his mood much lighter now than when this conversation first began. "I know! You can kiss her now! You can wake her up! Like, um…like how the prince woke Sleeping Beauty in the kids' story!" Denzel said smiling all over. He face lit up with excitement. He thought this was an excellent idea.

"Well, I've never kissed her under pressure before and I don't know if you've noticed but I'm hardly a prince." Cloud told him.

"Please! Please kiss her and wake her up! Will you do it for me? I won't ask for anything else I promise!" Denzel begged leaning over and putting his hands on Cloud's thighs. Cloud laughed at him and put one hand in his hair.

"Denzel, you will ask me for something else in twenty minutes…but I _will_ do it for you." Cloud said. Denzel sat back on his barstool.

"Yes!" Denzel said pumping his hand in the air. "Okay, but listen! You _have _to do it right! You can't just…just kiss her cheek. You have to kiss her lips and you have to kiss her so that I know how much you love her." Denzel said eagerly. Damn, Denzel had a lot of conditions for this.

"You got it. Now, if our talk is officially over, pick up your glass and hit it against mine." Cloud said holding his glass out toward Denzel. Denzel did as Cloud asked hitting his empty water glass into Cloud's. Their first 'double shot' talk had just concluded.

"Okay, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" Denzel said quietly grabbing Cloud's hand and tugging on him to pull him toward a sleeping Tifa.

"Wait, wait, wait…look at her." Cloud said moving his hands to Denzel's shoulders and staring a bit dreamily at Tifa.

"You think she's pretty don't you?" Denzel asked turning his face toward Cloud.

"I think she's beautiful." Cloud answered him. Denzel smiled and quietly walked over to sit on the table in front of the couch.

"Okay! I'm ready!" Denzel said as softly as he could. Cloud took a deep breath. He hadn't been this nervous the first time he had kissed her. It was times like this Cloud was glad Tifa was a sound sleeper. He sat on the vacant part of the couch in front of Tifa which wasn't much room but it would do. Cloud looked at Denzel who shook his head in agreement and motioned Cloud on. Cloud looked at her and put one hand on the opposite side of her. Denzel watched in anticipation as Cloud leaned in toward her. His kiss was gentle because he didn't want to wake her unexpectedly and have her slapping him in the face. Cloud barely pulled his lips away from her.

Tifa squirmed and mumbled a bit as she woke. She opened her eyes weakly. "Hey, baby...you wanna…Denzel?" Tifa said sleepily seeing Denzel sitting right there on the table. "What's wrong?"

"Ssshhhh..." Cloud said so softly he wasn't really sure anyone had heard him. Before Tifa could say anything else he kissed her again. This time was better, maybe even a little more than what Denzel needed to see. It was so sincere, and exactly what Denzel wanted. Tifa wrapped her arms around him. Cloud pulled away from her a little further this time, taking her hand in his.

"Denzel…" Tifa said more awake this time. He was wiping the tears from his eyes. Cloud looked at Denzel but didn't let go of Tifa's hand. Denzel didn't say anything. He smiled and wiped his eyes before throwing himself on the couch with Cloud and Tifa. He had one arm around Cloud and his head against Tifa's. She wiggled one arm around him and Cloud leaned over on top of her. Now she had one arm around each of them.

"Thank you." Denzel squeaked amidst his happy tears.


	10. Welcome Home

It wasn't easy for Eliza Mackey to hear the news she already knew. The call log Cloud had kept on her behalf was more evidence than she needed. It was a good thing that Tifa and Cloud had saved this news for the end of this trip. The car ride home wasn't nearly as pleasant as it was going to the beach, Traffic was heavy and Cloud's motion sickness had managed to rear its ugly head. So, what did a loving, caring woman like Tifa do in this case? The solution was simple: give Cloud two of Denzel's allergy pills which just so happened to have a side effect of drowsiness. Of course, Tifa didn't completely think this through because twenty minutes later Cloud passed out on her and was pure dead weight. She then regretted giving him two of those things.

The Mackey's had been quiet on the ride home except for Stella talking to Marlene. Garrison Mackey knew that his wife knew and Eliza knew her husband was well aware that she knew. He just didn't know that the information came from Cloud and Tifa. Tifa had never been more excited to see their Midgar apartment than she was once the Mackey's van had pulled up to the curb. It wasn't that she was ready to be home; it was because her leg was asleep from Cloud having slept on her over half the trip home and she couldn't wait to move.

"Thank you. We had a wonderful time. Thanks for inviting us to go with you." Cloud said yawning as he got out of the van and freed Tifa from her massive scrunched up discomfort. He wasn't a whole lot of help right now. He would have that allergy medicine hangover for the rest of the day surely.

"Thanks for going with us. We needed to fill the spot but…we wish we would have invited you all to begin with." Eliza looked as if she were about to cry. "You're a nice family." Tifa hugged her before this ended in her bursting into tears.

"Thank you. We really need to get this stuff unpacked and get upstairs. Listen, call us…I'm serious…if you need us…call us." Tifa said softly. She meant every word. Despite Cloud's fatigue he managed to load up both arms with stuff. Naturally, Denzel unloaded that ridiculous turtle. Once all their stuff was lying there on the sidewalk it was time to haul it all up the flight of stairs to the apartment.

Tifa was in the lead as she clumsily dug for the door key in her purse. Once at their door, the mailbox was overflowing and there were at least ten post-it notes on the door. Tifa unlocked the door as she felt Marlene falling in to her with her small hands full. Once the door was opened Tifa moved out of the way and began reading the post-it notes that were quite obviously from Yuffie. The house was hot and so Cloud dropped everything he had in the middle of the doorway to immediately turn their air down lower.

"Made you a 90's dance mix CD…" Tifa read the first note. "Okay…whatever…" she moved on to the next note. "Bar has been busy this week…Cloud, your bike is leaking oil." Tifa pulled the rest of them off the door and thought a moment. "Cloud, Yuffie left us a message that the bike is leaking oil." Tifa said putting everything in her hands onto the kitchen counter.

"Wait…Yuffie did what?" Cloud asked a little surprised by this. Marlene and Denzel had run off to their rooms to start unpacking. Denzel yelled loudly and then ran back into the living room.

"The turtle laid eggs! He laid eggs! Well, I guess he's not a he….he's a she!" Denzel was so excited. "I'm going to have baby turtles! Come and look! Come and look!" Denzel ran off again to his room. Marlene heard him yelling and immediately ran to his room. Tifa shook her head and looked at Cloud who had the same expression on his face as she did.

"See, this is what we get for taking that turtle to the beach. If we would have left it here it wouldn't have laid eggs because it would have died." Cloud said.

"Well, it looks like we're going to have to look up some information on raising turtle eggs. Let him have his baby turtles and then we'll figure out what the hell to do with them." Tifa said unloading a bag.

"I should have known. That guy who gave that turtle to me had that 'this turtle is going to lay eggs' look in his eye. I know that look." Cloud said hauling one of the suitcases to their room. When he came back he was still bitching about the turtle eggs. Tifa gave him 'the look'.

"I know that look too…it means shut up Cloud and help me out by go checking how bad the oil leak is on the bike then get your ass back in here and help me put all this stuff away." Cloud said. Tifa smiled as she unloaded what was left of the groceries they had taken on the trip.

"And you knowing what that look means is one of the reasons I love you." Tifa said.

"But I'm so tired from those stupid allergy pills you doped me up with; even though I appreciate your taking care of me." Cloud said.

"Cloud, go check the oil problem and then you can lay down on the couch and me and the kids will unpack. Please, just do that so we know how bad it really is." Tifa begged of him. She knew he was lethargic from the pills but this had to be done. Cloud called for Denzel to come help him. As the two of them left the room Marlene came back into the kitchen as Tifa looked in the refrigerator. Crap…there was next to nothing in here. They had emptied the fridge before they left so nothing would spoil. Tifa sighed.

"Marlene? You need to help me make a grocery list we have nothing." Tifa said closing the refrigerator and grabbing a piece of paper among the mess of unpacking. Marlene hopped up on the bar stool at the kitchen counter.

So, here they were: The turtle had laid eggs, the bike was apparently leaking oil everywhere, there was nothing to eat in this house and there was so much luggage yet to be unpacked. Furthermore, Cloud would be useless when he came back upstairs and fell asleep on the couch. They had many things to deal with right now, so what? The Mackey's would have a hell of a lot more to deal with when they got home. This vacation proved something…so what Cloud, Tifa, Marlene and Denzel didn't live in one of the quiet suburbs outside of Midgar? So what they didn't have the 2500 square foot ranch-style house with the white fences and the manicured lawn. So what none of them had the same last name or were even biologically related? None of that shit mattered anymore. What Cloud and Tifa had thought was a picture-perfect family was on the verge of complete collapse. The truth was…it didn't matter what a family was 'supposed' to look like anymore. A family could look like a three bedroom apartment over a bar on the edge of Midgar as long as there was love in that picture. Welcome home Strife family. Welcome home.


End file.
